[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/picky.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / picky

[← P](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/P/)

# picky

«picky» in Mova's school dictionary: **hard to please and only likes certain things, especially…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (picky, pickier, pickiest) — informal

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) A picky person is hard to please and only likes certain things, especially food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#m1)

2) (informal) Picky can mean fussing about small details. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life it is often used about children and food: «a picky eater». It can sound a bit critical. UK also says «fussy», «faddy». Phrases: «picky eater», «picky about clothes».

### examples

- My little brother is a picky eater. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#x1)
- Don't be so picky — just eat your peas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#x2)
- The cat is picky about its food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#x3)
- She's picky about which socks she wears. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#x4)
- Picky eaters often try new foods slowly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#x5)
- My teacher is picky about neat handwriting. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#x6)
- He was too picky to choose a book. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#x7)
- Are you a picky eater? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/#x8)

### note

Informal. Comparative: pickier, pickiest (y → i). Synonyms: fussy (UK), choosy. Do not confuse with «pick» (choose) — though the word comes from it.

### In the corpora

- [That's why a picky grandad says the new millennium really began in 2001, not at the huge parties of 2000.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/124-decades-centuries-millennia/3/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «picky» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/picky/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.